Martha Stewart Glittering Kits

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Reported by Melissa Norris

I'm a glitter girl. And when it comes to bling on my projects I only want the best. And the best glitter in my opinion, Martha Stewart Crafts glitter. During the holidays, the Martha Stewart Crafts line always debuts several Glittering Kits in the colors of the holiday and they are an affordable way to get your hands on the glitter you love.

Each glitter kit contains three 1 oz bottles of Martha Stewart glitter in different colors, as well as a 4 oz bottle of her glittering glue. Some of the colors are from her regular line and some are exclusive to the set. For this review I will be reviewing a Halloween and Christmas set.

For Halloween I purchased a set that had Fire Opal fine glitter in it, which is a shade of orange. I decided to make a glittered pumpkin (or Funkin!) to add to a wreath I was making. This is where the glittering glue comes in.

The glittering glue is really the best part of these sets. The glittering glue comes in a jar with a wide mouth lid, and built into the top of the lid is a brush. That's my favorite! I've hated glittering in the past because your brush basically ends up ruined after applying all the glue. With this one built right in, I never have to find one, it's always ready to go, and I don't have to clean it!

The glue is a very thick white glue, but it dries clear. To get the glitter to really stick you have to be very generous with the glue and just goop (yes, technical term) it all over your project. They also sell glittering glue in a smaller bottle with a tip you would normally see on a glue bottle for detail designs.

Once you get all of your glue on, it's time to dump the glitter! A little really goes a long way with this glitter, but it's best to coat your project really well, then add the excess back to the bottle.

After drying overnight, I attached my pumpkin to my wreath and the glitter stayed on really well. When I took it off my door to pack away this weekend I noticed that not much of the glitter came off, especially after me handling it.

For my Christmas set, I got the Frosty Gingerbread Tinsel-Cut kit. This is a style of glitter that is not available in the regular MS Crafts line (only fine and coarse is available), so I was really anxious to see how it worked out.

The set I purchased included Garnet (red), Olivine (green) and Carrara Marble. This last color isn't usually available, but is available individually with the rest of the holiday line. It contains a mix of solid white and clear flakes.

I decided to try glittering a wooden ornament and a piece of chipboard. I noticed that the tinsel cut glitter likes to clump together. This made it a bit more difficult in getting a good coverage on the ornament since I had to get the glitter up on the sides. I chose to dump as much as I could on my project and then knock off the excess after it dried.

For the chipboard piece, I made a mistake. I didn't really think about the fact that the Carrara Marble glitter had clear pieces in it, so I didn't paint my chipboard first. So after the glue dried clear, you could see that greyish chipboard color coming through. But I still like the way it covered, I just need to remember to paint the chipboard first on my next piece. However I don't think this would be necessary if you were using a solid color like red or green.

So after drying overnight, I came back to my red bird ornament. I knocked off the excess glitter and noticed that it had really good coverage. But after I handled it for a while, when putting the ribbon through the hole, a ton of glitter had continued to knock off. I feel this is one of the downfalls of the tinsel cut glitter. Due to the long nature of it, much of the glitter gets held on by pieces that are touching the glue, so it just keeps falling off. And with this being an ornament, I'm concerned that there's going to be little slivers of glitter falling off forever, so I'm thinking about sealing it with some type of spray before using it or giving it away.

Overall, I think the Martha Stewart Crafts glittering kits are a great product. You get a good value for your money and get the ability to purchase some glitter colors that aren't regularly available in the line. Plus, with them being holiday colored, you can feel ok with using a ton of it on your projects without having to buy a lot of individual bottles. And the glittering glue really is top notch.

Pros:

• Good value, 3 glitters and a glue in one package
• Some exclusive colors
• Top quality products

Cons:

• Tinsel cut glitter can clump together
• Not available online
• Would like to see more exclusive colors

MS Crafts glittering kits are available at Michael's stores for $14.99 USD. And after using a coupon, that's a great deal!

So have you tried these glittering products? Let us know what you think!